Witness Protection Programs in America: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives
In a statement, lawyer Harry Roque said that in February, Suwaid Upham traveled all the way to Manila in the hopes of getting protection from the government.
But talks for his admission to the Witness Protection Program failed after Upham refused to be interviewed by the DOJ in the agency's premises in Manila.
It turned out that Upham — who earlier appeared to media masqueraded under the pseudonym "Jessie" — received information that there were officials at the DOJ closely allied with the primary suspects in the gruesome November 23 carnage.
"Jessie refused to appear in the DOJ premises because Jessie himself had information that high-ranking officials of the Department were working with the Ampatuans," said Roque, who is also the legal counsel for the families of the 14 journalist victims in the killing.
It was not immediately clear whether Upham knew specific officials from the DOJ who he claimed were allies of the Ampatuan clan.
Al Jazeera interview
Despite the danger awaiting him back home, Roque said a frustrated Upham still decided to return to Maguindanao - a decision that ultimately sealed his fate. He was later killed by unidentified gunmen.
Upham seemed too certain of the Ampatuans' influence in the Justice department, claiming in an earlier interview with Al Jazeera that members of the powerful clan had plans of using their wealth to get away with multiple murder charges hurled against them.
In one instance before his arrest late last year, primary suspect and former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. was said to have even uttered this line according to Upham: "Walang magyayari sa kaso nila. Kaya ng pera namin silang lahat (Nothing will happen to their case. Our money can buy all of them)."
It was not a surprise Upham would be privy to such conversations among members of the Ampatuan clan. Afterall, he claimed to be a “special bodyguard" of Andal Jr.'s cousin, Datu Kanor, an alleged gunman in the killings.
Reports said Upham was a member of a police auxiliary unit in Maguindanao.
Apart from him and Kanor, Upham claimed five other people served as gunmen in the massacre including Andal Jr. himself, Datu Ban, Datu Mama, police officer Ando Masukat, and a certain Kudja.
He claimed that members of the Ampatuan clan, including clan patriarch and former Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., as well as former ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, ordered the killings.
Agra ruling
Upham's suspicions against the DOJ appeared to have been bolstered when in mid-April, Justice Secretary Alberto Agra ordered that two suspects in the massacre — Zaldy and cousin Akmad Ampatuan Sr. — be cleared from the murder charges.
But following the controversy his order had triggered, Agra reversed his decision and included Zaldy and Akmad again in the charge sheet.
Calls made by GMANews.TV to Agra remained unanswered as of this posting.
CenterLaw, Roque's Law Office, only learned about Upham's death this week, but according to his family, he could have been killed on or before June 14.
CenterLaw had initially interviewed Upham in the presence of Commission on Human Rights chairperson Leila de Lima. A representative from the DOJ never showed up during the interview.
It turned out that the DOJ wanted the interviews to be conducted inside its premises in Manila, a suggestion that Upham had rejected. — Mark D. Merueñas / RSJ/LBG
